[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1449-S1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Madam President, on climate change, for decades we have known climate 
change is not only a major national challenge but an existential threat 
to our planet and to our future. Despite the gravity and scale of this 
challenge, one political party in the United States has largely denied 
the problem even exists, denied the overwhelming consensus of the 
scientific community, and denied most attempts in Congress to tackle 
climate change.
  President Trump's record on climate change is one of abject failure: 
denying science, systematically rolling back environmental protections 
that reduce

[[Page S1450]]

carbon emissions, and announcing withdrawal from the Paris climate 
accords--Luddite, ostrich-like, if there ever were, actions that can be 
described that way.
  Recently, we heard of a new effort by the Trump administration to 
once again push back against efforts to address climate change. You 
see, it was probably embarrassing for President Trump when his own 
administration released the National Climate Assessment last year, as 
required by law, which outlined the severe and immediate impacts of 
climate change. According to reports, the White House now has plans to 
set up a fake panel of cherry-picked scientists who question the 
severity of climate change in order to counter the scientific consensus 
on this terribly urgent problem, even within the administration. This 
new fake panel will reportedly be set up under the National Security 
Council, not the EPA, not NOAA, or any of the Agencies where real 
scientists work--real climate scientists.
  This is maybe the most conspicuous symptom of the disease of climate 
denialism that has infected the Republican Party and the hard right. 
This is beyond willful ignorance. This is the intentional, deliberate 
sowing of disinformation about climate science by our own government. 
This cannot stand.
  This morning, I am announcing that if the Trump administration moves 
forward with this fake climate panel, we will be introducing 
legislation to defund it. I will be doing it, along with several of my 
colleagues. It is long past time for President Trump and Republican 
leaders to admit that climate change is real, that human activity 
contributes to it, and Congress must take action to counter it.
  So far, Leader McConnell and our Republicans, when we ask them, do 
you believe climate change is real? Silence. Do you believe humans 
cause it? Silence. Do you believe Congress has to act to deal with it? 
Silence. That will not stand, and they will not be able to maintain 
that position over a period of time.